ABOUT THE ART

In the winter of 1785 in Edinburgh, all the shops closed for a day and over 80,000 people gathered in the grounds of my old school to watch the incredible spectacle of Vincenzo Lunardi taking one of the world's first ever balloon rides. The whole town caught balloon fever, with Scottish women even wearing large balloon shaped bonnets named after the famous aeronaut.

Growing up in Edinburgh I could occasionally watch hot air balloons rise over the city from the park opposite my house. This design is ode to Edinburgh, a city of history and grandeur.